The Mystic as Leader

This post is from the defunct blog “Dying Church”

I think many pastors, and subsequently churches, struggle with the need to be relevant. By this, they mean they want to have the answers to life's problems, help people get along and ahead in this world, speak with final authority on the burning issues of our day. Prevailing cultural winds dictate direction and responds. The kingdom's culture, its claims and presence, are ignored, or dismissed out of hand. Rather than showing how the gospel is relevant now, demonstrating where it speaks tody, church leaders need to remember and reveal the Lving Presence of God. Yes, this undermines the influence of Barth, and neo-othordoxy in general. It's fine to "preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand." It's not fine when preaching, or other aspects of ministry, are driven by the headlines and the present needs of the culture — actually, subcultures, when it comes to the church. Henri Nouwen reminds us that Christian leaders must "live a life that is not dominated by the desire to be relevant but is instad safely anchored in the knowledge of God's first love." Therefore "we have to be mystics. A mystic is a person whose identy is deeply rooted in God's first love."  Mystics aren't caught up in etheral trances, wandering moon-eyed through life, discontected from people. They are living in reality; they are living in God. Nouwen continues: "If there is any focus that the Christian leader of the future will need, it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking us, 'Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?' It is the discipline of contemplative prayer. Through contemplative prayer we can keep ourselves from being pulled from one urgent issue to another and from becoming strangers to our own and God's heart." Yet, most of what passes for ministry — the busy work of the church is what it really is — pulls us from our primary work: To be mystics, contemplatives, those who are able to guide others in to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. In short, we are distracted from prayer. And prayer becomes one more activity rather than a way of life — prayerfulness. As Nouwen says, "It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable, but it is not at the heart of Christian leadership. The central question is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word and taste fully God's infinite goodness?" Well, are we? Are we scandalized enough by Nouwen's words to throw off the demands of people and embrace the claims of Christ on his shepherds? The future of ministry isn't waiting for some bright tomorrow. It's now, right now, that we must help others see the "kingdom among them." (All Nouwen quotes from In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership.)

Darryl Dash

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.
Toronto, Canada